This invention relates to downhole drilling, specifically in relation to oil, gas and geothermal drilling. More specifically this invention relates to forming a bore hole liner during the drilling of a well bore.
Liners, such as casing, may be used to separate the annulus of a well bore from fluid communication with the surrounding formation. Well bore isolation may be advantageous both in the interests of protecting the well bore from infiltration by water or other compounds in the surrounding formation, and in protecting the environment surrounding the well bore from infiltration with drilling materials or environmental hazards. Various methods of lining well bores are known in the art, many of which include conveying a liner downhole and securing it to the well bore wall. Methods or systems for casing or lining well bores are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,544,041; 5,271,472; 5,454,419; 6,640,903; 6,725,919; 7,048,067; and 7,134,495, each of which is incorporated by reference for all that it contains. Many methods of casing well bores may require complete or partial removal of the drill string in order to case the well. Faster and more efficient means of conveying a casing or lining downhole and securing it to the well bore wall have been sought in order to minimize the time and money lost by casing or lining operations.
Methods or systems for using a wound strip to form a liner are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,758; 4,971,152; 6,637,092; 5,799,701; and 4,995,926; each of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all that it contains.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,901 to Johnson et al, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses A system that is useable in a subterranean well includes a tubular structure that is formed from a spirally wound strip, and the tubular structure is provided downhole in the subterranean well.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,334 to Johnson et al, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a system that is useable in a subterranean well includes conveying an elongated strip from a surface of the well downhole into the well; and spirally wrapping the strip to form a tubular structure in the well.
FIG. 1a depicts a system 1105 from U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,334 which discloses that may be used to deploy the strip 10 downhole inside a wellbore 1107. The system 1105 includes a truck 1114 that contains a spool 1112 of tubing 1106 that is deployed downhole into the well through a well tree 1122. A winding machine assembly 1108 is attached to the lower end of the tubing 1106 and is used to form a tubular structure inside the wellbore from the strip 10.
FIG. 1b depicts another system 150 from U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,334 which discloses deploying the strip 10 downhole and forming the tubular structure downhole. In this embodiment, the strip 10 is deployed in its linear configuration into an annulus of the well from a spool 160 that is located at the surface of the well. The annulus is formed in the annular region between a tubing 166 that extends down into a wellbore and the interior wall of the wellbore. The lower end of the tubing 166 may be attached to a side entry sub 167 that couples the tubing 166 to a tubular section 168 of pipe in which the strip 10 is allowed to coil. In this manner, the side entry sub 167 provides a side entry port to the interior passageway of the section 168 through which the strip 10 is threaded.
FIG. 1c depicts yet another system 180 from U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,334 for deploying the strip 10. At the surface of the well, tubing 184 is unrolled from a tubing spool 182 (located on a truck 186) and may be fed through a rotary drive mechanism 188 (that is capable of turning the tubing 184) and through a well tree 192 into the well. At the surface of the well, the tubing 184 also passes through a mechanism 190 that receives the strip 10 from a coil 206 and wraps the strip around the tubing 184. The tubing 184 with the wrapped strip 10 is deployed downhole. The lower end of the tubing 184 is connected to the rotating head 132 that winds the strip 10 off of the tubing 184 and spiral wraps the strip 10 to form a tubular structure downhole in a particular section 1200 of the wellbore.